Here's Why Dry Face Masks Aren't Just a Marketing Gimmick

Confession: We’d love Nannette de Gaspe's dry face masks even if they did nothing for our skin. (They do, but we'll get to that later.) The Canadian-based beauty brand (that just became available stateside) has a collection of scalloped, peach-colored slips of fabric—available for the face, hands, neck, mouth, and eyes—that are wear-out-of-the-house pretty. So gorgeous, in fact, that we couldn’t resist the urge to thread a red ribbon through its laser-cut slits, tie it on, and take a few—fine, several—selfies.

Hannah Choi/Allure

Happily, we don’t have to love de Gaspe's masks just for their looks. They are, according to cosmetic chemist Ni’Kita Wilson, a wearable technology innovation that could change the mask game as we know it. Let’s back up for a second. The masks are the first completely dry face masks we’ve ever touched—not soggy, not slippery, not even greasy to the touch. After fifteen minutes of wear (during which we were sure absolutely nothing was happening) our skin was noticeably softer and glowy.

Nannette de Gaspe's Library of Skin Seduction, which includes masks for your eyes, hands, face, neck, and mouth.

Courtesy of brand

As Wilson later explained, the felt-like masks are infused with semi-solid plant oils that warm and imperceptibly melt at body temperature. These oils, primarily shea butter and hydrogenated soybean, jibe well with your skin’s fatty-acid barrier and can be more effective at delivering their anti-aging active ingredients (peptides, antioxidants) than the water-based masks we’re used to, she adds. “A lot of work has been done on textiles so you can infuse them with skin-care formulations that will deliver a long-term benefit,” Wilson says. “The formula is actually processed within the fibers of the actual mask. As they warm on your skin, the ingredients melt onto skin and release the actives.”

Recap: It’s more glam, and has the potential to deliver ingredients more effectively to your skin than sheet masks, clay masks, or your average cream mask. But there’s still reason to keep your other masks in rotation. This skin-conditioning, anti-aging mask may be good for youth reversal, but they’re not yet capable of tackling other skin issues, like acne (we like clay masks like

This Origins clay mask reduces breakouts and minimizes the size of pores.

By Lindsay Colameo

), or improving the texture of your skin (try an acid-containing mask). A dry face mask is also a bit pricey for most of us to use on the reg (even though you can reuse each up to three times): It's $425 for the complete set of five. (That's $85 a piece!) Still, we’ve got our hopes high that this new wave of masks will serve other skin concerns soon. “It’s definitely a breakthrough,” Wilson says. And a très chic, très beneficial option for a masquerade ball.